The Limp They Call ‘Swagger’ by Gerard Osenele Ukpan. 1st to 9th of February 2014

The words and images of a poet.

Private view with performance Saturday 1st February from 7pm.

First Thursday opening and performance by the artist Thursday 6th February from 7pm.

‘My aim is to use the show as a mirror for our modern day society. There’ll be artworks depicting social and political challenges. There’ll be poetry, drum beats and open mic slots.

‘I have always been a poet who often sketched as a hobby whilst commuting to and from work. It was never anything serious until I met Ulf Sandstrom, a Swedish Life Coach, trauma tapper and an excellent pianist. It was he who showed me with a few tasks the entire spectrum of my career as a ballpoint artist.

‘Since then I’ve been creating portraits, surrealist and abstract pieces with ballpoint pens (biros) on the train. My style has now evolved into a pure and unadulterated language that is intended to speak directly to your soul, without need for translation’.

“In recent times, ethical values are being replaced by misleading ‘tags’. The new generation tend to use the word ‘cool’ to denote and promote acts which should have been detrimental to society but have often been overlooked because of the lack of ‘sociocultural’ consciousness in the collective psyche of our youths.

“People call a negative style of doing things a swagger and the youths who are always looking for that ‘cool factor’ become the prey of the ‘mind borne’ lethal missile they call ‘swagger:

It ain’t t cool to to put a knife in your pocket!
It ain’t cool to gang rape a girl!
It ain’t cool to be a drug peddler!

‘The characters in the movies that explore such things do learn their lessons’.

“The cool things in life are embedded in morality, ethics, justice, education, knowledge and the desire to be true to oneself and society. Other than the aforementioned, it is a ‘limp’ and not a ‘swagger’. Some of the things publicized by the popular media are fallacious!”

The exhibition/show is a rap on the door of awakening and we only hope the hand behind the door unlocks it.

The limp they call ‘swagger’

 

 

 

 

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